THE HEALTH CARE DEBATE: THE LOBBYISTS

THE HEALTH CARE DEBATE: THE LOBBYISTS; Lobbyists Are the Loudest In the Health Care Debate

Published: August 16, 1994

Correction Appended

(Page 4 of 4)

Thus Mr. Serrano has not only the interests of his district to worry about but also the interests of his caucus. He said they were generally one and the same. But he also has to worry about the interests of New York City, and that can be cause for angst.

The health care industry in New York provides 300,000 jobs, and it has been one of the fastest-growing sectors of the economy. Mr. Serrano has to worry about those jobs -- many hospital workers are Hispanic -- as well as insure that the hospitals will continue to treat poor patients, regardless of their immigration status.

Another big concern is how New York's teaching hospitals, among the nation's most eminent, will fare. The bill offered by Representative Richard A. Gephardt of Missouri, the majority leader, proposes a limit on the number of medical residents at such hospitals; Mr. Serrano wants to make sure that Hispanic residents are fairly represented.

Mr. Serrano said the caucus was worried about preventive care and about whether a national health insurance system would require people to carry identification cards and what uses those cards might be put to. But it has supported the most controversial provision of the Gephardt bill, the requirement that employers pay 80 percent of the cost of their workers' health insurance.

Mr. Serrano hears most often not from insurance companies or other giants of the health care debate, but from fellow caucus members and strictly local interests, particularly the teaching hospitals.

Mr. Serrano is sympathetic to some of the hospitals' concerns, but he wants them to admit more local residents into their training programs. "Maybe it's time for me to do a little lobbying," he said, clearing his throat, pinching his collar and straightening his tie.

In his office, which features portraits of Robert F. Kennedy and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mr. Serrano said, "Not all the lobbying is done right here. Anywhere you are, you get lobbied."

He reached for a piece of paper. "This is the White House lobbying," he said. "They ran off a beautiful computer thing that singles out your district. It gives me information I didn't have, that there are people in my district who are not covered by Medicaid and Medicare and who need universal coverage."

The analysis said that 94,000 people, including 36,000 children, in Mr. Serrano's district had no health coverage.

The grass-roots groups, he said, "remind you of what it is they do and their value to society and why we have to be careful not to hurt them."

He said insurance companies were the "toughest" lobbyists "because they're very negative in their approach."

"They say, 'Everything is O.K. Why don't we leave things the way they are?' It's hard to negotiate with someone who believes no change is needed."

The chart also failed to mention that three of the House members listed -- Mr. Cooper, Michael A. Andrews and Jon Kyl -- are engaged in or were engaged in Senate races; as a result, their contribution totals were inflated. The total listed for Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson was also inflated because it included gifts from her campaign in a special election in 1993 as well as gifts this year.

Photos: Paul Mann, left, and members of the Hawaii Restaurant Association at a news conference yesterday on Capitol Hill, where they spoke out against employer mandates. Members of Congress are hearing from varied lobbies on health insurance reform. (Photographs by Paul Hosefros/The New York Times); From left, Representatives Jose E. Serrano of the Bronx, Paul McHale of Pennsylvania, Bill Brewster of Oklahoma and Senator John B. Breaux of Louisiana have heard from professional lobbyists and constituents on the health care overhaul. (Stephen Crowley/The New York Times) (pg. A12) Charts: Shows the leading health and insurance political action committee contributors, Jan. 1, 1993, through May 31, 1994. (pg. A1); "KEEPING TRACK: Who Gets the Most" shows the recipients of campaign contributions form the health anc insurance industries political action committees from Jan. 1, 1993 through May 31, 1994. (pg. A12) (Source: Citizen Action, a consumer group that supports a Canadian-style health system.)

Correction: August 18, 1994, Thursday A chart on Tuesday about health care lobbying described campaign contributions received by the listed members of Congress incorrectly. In addition to health and insurance industry political action committees, the totals included large gifts from individual donors. One Congressman listed, Representative Jim Cooper, said he does not accept contributions from political action committees.